


The Way We Work

by AnotherLoser



Series: Return of The Nogitsune [6]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Animal Death, Demonic Possession, Possessed Stiles Stilinski, season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:02:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25425076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherLoser/pseuds/AnotherLoser
Summary: He wonders what Yako would have used all of the pieces for though.  Clearly he didn’t need them with Stiles’ body, but another time, perhaps? In another life? Or was it merely the creature inside of him that wanted to harvest his kill?  “What would I use the bones for?”
Relationships: Nogitsune/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Return of The Nogitsune [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1256108
Comments: 5
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Shorter than intended, but the follow up will fill in what I didn't have time for with this one.

“I feel like we should do something with it.” With his left fingers painted red and the right wrapped around a knife, the introspection wasn’t being made at the most ideal time. Before the rabbit was dead would be more fitting, he supposed, but this wasn’t the first. Stiles’ hesitation is gone by now and he was moved up to tearing apart the animal intentionally to mimic a dog attack. He knew how to be clean, Yako already taught him that. His dad showed him how to hunt, how to take care of a pistol and rifle and the tools for cleaning the kill properly. In that, he also told his son about hunting as ethically as one could; taking out animals that overpopulate on their own, respecting their lives enough to use their death for something important, like feeding one’s family or keeping them warm back when animal hide was the best way to do so. “At least eat the meat or something, you know? Hunting for sport is kind of fucked up by human standards.”

“ _We are eating it, aren’t we_?” Technically speaking he was right, Stiles concedes with a small shrug and a nod. The pain the poor animal felt was to Yako what a bag of chips was to Stiles, but as long as he maintained the human side of their body as well it was generally good enough.

“Yeah, but it’s different for us is what I’m saying.” Yako seems to take a moment at that, considering what he knows of humans and his host in particular.

“ _If hiding the carces is disrespectful we could always take the bones. I can teach you how to clean them. Even preserve the fur if you wanted_ -”

“I’m gonna stop you right there because there is no use I could have for dry animal skin.”

“ _Fair enough._ ”

He wonders what Yako would have used all of the pieces for though. Clearly he didn’t need them with Stiles’ body, but another time, perhaps? In another life? Or was it merely the creature inside of him that wanted to harvest his kill? “What would I use the bones for?”

“ _Decoration. Rituals. Both._ ”

“Fair enough…”

He should feel worse than he does. He was objectively appalled- he always loved animals. And this kind of violence was a precursor for worse; one of the first signs of a young killer in the making. After seeing a man’s intestines spilling over his own hands, however, this doesn’t feel nearly as bad. In fact it was easy after that night to begin this new habit, helping feed Yako in smaller doses.

It had only been a matter of times before something had to give.

Today he walks home with a bundle of small, bloody bones in his backpack, surely stinking the thing up beyond repair by the time he would be able to wash anything safely. Luckily his dad wasn’t home to notice though, and his friends should all be getting ready for school, just as Stiles should be as well.

“ _Stay home_.” Yako says, and Stiles agrees. He needed to tend to the bones, wash his bag, find a place to stash his new supplies(whatever they may be used for). It had been some time since he had any absences at school now, and given what the faculty knew of his history at this point, it wasn’t the same environment as before Yako’s presence settled in. He was crazy, he was dangerous, he had a mental breakdown. The staff at Beacon Hills High had to be informed of particular issues on his file before he could return after Eichen, even if they were made up to cover a demonic possession. Not many people came near him anymore, let alone thought about scolding him for any odd behavior. Mental illness was a touchy subject, after all.

Finstock, he thinks, would be the only exception. The only person in town outside of the pack who treats everyone and everything the same as he always did, seemingly just for the sake of it. That had always been how he operated, but maybe that was for his own sake. Everyone had to find ways to cope in this town.

[...]

If Scott was suspicious, Lydia was a nightmare. She had no more ammo than the wolf but with her sharp mind there was no hiding something she's already got a glimpse of, and so was that little notion he had to watch out for. Never mind everyone else; the tenser things became between the dynamic duo the closer attention the rest would pay. With that reasoning he should put more focus into patching things up with Scott, giving better excuses, looking out for his own potential red flags. Playing extra nice. The problem was that at this point, Stiles was so deep in it he didn't feel the urgency in pretending. But at least he was aware of it.

At least he and Yako alike could keep their eyes peeled for signs of paranoia. He knew damn well what that looked like, after all. Now he even had the spirit's sixth sense for these things; when someone's watching, when they're whispering, following, coming to attack. Better for someone running with wolves.

But then again, how long could that last?

" _As long as we need it to_." Yako insists, lounging across the table his host is hunched over to study. He doesn't seem very concerned about Stiles' friends these days.

"What does that mean...?" Stiles whispers back, quiet as he can in the otherwise silent room.

" _We wont always be here, and neither will they_." As if he needed the reminder of time passing so rapidly. " _You'll all go in separate directions, people forget, by the time you see anyone you used to know again it wont matter how you act because time will explain it._ " It's a bitter pit in his stomach, but something he supposed he needed to hear. Not all information was easy going down.

Stiles lets out a sigh, lips parted, about to respond when another figure slides into the seat across from him. As she does, Yako moves himself out of the way, around the table and stopping behind Malia's shoulders. When his eyes land on her, Stiles notes the furrow in her brow before the question even comes, "What's up..? You look frustrated."

" _I don't like her tone_." Neither of them do.

"I'm fine." He says with a small shrug. It doesn't work. She's still staring at him like a puzzle she didn't even understand let alone know how to fix. She used to think that she knew everything. When they first met everything she said was with confidence. She thought she knew him because they only truly met when they were in the same place, with the same tormentors. Because someone tried to kill her one of those nights, because she had a hand in death as a child. She must know everything he's been through, how to help him cope. If it works for her, why wouldn't it work for him? She barely knew anything about him, let alone the human mind.

Finally, she was getting it.

"I have to go." The book in front of him slams shut as he gathers it, as well as a few other additions up in his arms.

[...]

" _You gave her a red flag, you know_."

"How so?"

" _Storming out without giving a real answer_."

"I didn't _storm out_ , I left. And it's not the first time I've done that." They've only just got home, barely in the front door when Yako appears in front of him. He barely gets a flinch. "What?"

" _You have to be careful now._ "

It's odd. After the fox's statement, a moment of pause with their eyes locked together, he turns away to wander the house as if it were the first time he'd seen it. Curiously. Cautiously. Something in the human is disappointed. "Something on your mind? Or what?"

" _Something's different. I think..._ " He stops in front of a window, Stiles catches up to him there. No one should be around. No other cars were home. He places a hand on the spirit's shoulder this time. " _Something's near... I'd be a little nicer to the wolves for now, Stiles. There's no telling what they'll do if they get too wound up._ " Something goes wrong and Stiles has been acting strange, they might jump to conclusions. Right or not initially, they might catch on. He'll need to call Malia to make amends. Maybe Scott too.

"How bad?"

" _I'm not sure yet..._ "


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: I've gone back through my previous entries in this series to make small changes(nothing going back to re-read for unless you just feel like it anyway) for a cohesive timeline. Primarily all events up until now have been between season 4 and 5, meaning school has been out and senior year is only just beginning with this entry.

Stiles signed on for the long haul long before Yako came around. The other lies didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, not when now that meant monster and mortal warfare. What's a little cut to relieve stress when the demon in him has torn open his guts to prove a point? What's an angry drunk of a father, some overdue bills, some clunky police work when now there was a mental hospital nipping at their heels and a hell hound on the force? His more mortal problems were nothing now. But he committed when Scott was bit. When Derek needed help. When Boyd and Erica were taken. Lydia. Malia. Liam. There was never any chance of Stiles being his normal self again. No matter how much anyone pretended, they were all changed and he wasn't truly meant for this anyway.

But now he had an advantage. He _had_ been paranoid. He _was_ anxious. Emotional. Impulsive, but still clever and observant. Now though, he had the strength of an alpha, the senses of any shifter and a even better healing factor than the wolves. And for better or for worse, he was the only one who knew about it.

The secret gave him an edge, certainly. Allowed so much more room to search and study and explore on his own with Yako, at least for now. If he had told the pack in the beginning then he might not have survived the tug of war that would've started. Because they didn't know, however, when Stiles tells them something he knew for a fact, they still only heard a _theory_. A _guess_. A paranoid hunch from someone always looking for the worst case scenario. That's all they could think of it as, apparently.

Stiles knew something was off before Yako said it. Even though the demon couldn’t read minds, save for Stiles’, he could sense the difference. “ _He isn’t a wolf_ ” not really, which only added more questions to the pile. “I know.” Starting with why did he leave, where did he go, who are the people he claims are his parents, what happened to the real ones— and most importantly, what did he really want? Because it wasn’t a safe haven. Ever since he arrived in Beacon Hills chaos was rising, and to what end? How many would die? What would become of the town? There wasn’t any telling without answers, and Stiles wasn’t getting anywhere with his usual methods.

They both know his sob story was a lie, nothing more than a guilt trip anyone who had done the research Theo claims to have done on Scott would know to at least attempt. He was the peaceful _true alpha_ with a title he got for his heart of gold, how could he ever turn away another wolf looking for a home? The only silver lining was that he seemed hesitant to call the stranger a member of his pack immediately. Still things continued to get worse; another teenager was going berserk, their friends were once again being attacked, and the paper trail to Theo wasn't enough to convince anyone of anything.

Stiles' thread of sanity becomes Yako himself. First a tormentor, then a coping mechanism, and now this- codependency? No one else understood how he felt. No one else really listened to him. He's not sure that they ever did. Regardless, sometimes he wonders if he had to be wrong. After all, could he really trust the opinion of a demon relying on his compliance to survive? Yako was biased, though he was also very insistent that this wasn't the case. If Theo was truly dangerous they would benefit more from watching and absorbing the chaos than stopping it at the end of the day. So maybe he had to be telling the truth. For what end? He didn't want to save the town, certainly not the pack. What was the motive for encouraging his host's curiosity?

" _What's your motivation for stopping him?_ " Stiles blinks.

"I have to."

" _Do you?_ " Yako slips between him and the clear board wheeled into the middle of the bedroom. Stiles doesn't flinch, even when this leaves them an inch apart. " _You have to survive. You have to live, feed, move on. You don't owe them anything._ "

"But I do owe you?"

" _That isn't what I meant. But if you wanted to listen to me instead of them for a change..._ " Unlikely. Yako's answer usually came down to murder for one reason or another and he would always be biased towards such due to his nature. Stiles couldn't solve these matters like that- certainly not himself. If Derek or Peter did it that would be different. Even Scott or Liam or Malia had a way to justify themselves if things went south, he knew that for a fact. It simply wasn't the same for him.

Instead he follows the lead, takes his own notes all the while, and juggles the pack's goals with his own constantly. The stack of lies can only grow as time goes on. More people were vanishing, being hurt, killed. Malia and Theo share looks like they knew something no one else did. Scott and Kira weren't much different. Faster than anyone realized the entire pack was being enveloped in their own chaos, not a finger lifted on Yako's part.

The spirit was eating well, though the same couldn't be said for the host. Self care wasn't his strong point in times of stress especially, meaning still they as a pair would grow weaker and weaker.

"I haven't felt this fucking crazy since Eichen House." He comments on an off night. Yako only hums. No one else seems to notice now that they had enough to distract them from their previous curiosity over the human, which in itself was a blessing and a curse; further discretion always came in handy but it was hardly desirable at the cost of isolation.

" _How different does this really feel from before_?" Not enough. It was the stress that ruined things. He's known for a while now what the personal situation was deep down.

[...]

His car is beginning to feel like more hassle than it's worth. 

He’d suspect sabotage with how often he’s broken down since Theo arrived but in this case Stiles knew better. This was simply the consequence of a car older than he is and a wallet too bare to do maintenance on it. Jeeps especially weren’t cheap vehicles- maybe Scott was right to get a used bike instead.

He shouldn’t even be in this position though. He should be home already, he should be with his dad, or anyone from the pack, not searching for information alone. He couldn’t even remember if he let anyone know he would be out late, let alone where or why.

Then again that very well could be the sleep deprivation. Even Yako couldn’t get him to sleep through the night these days. What did it matter? There were people being hurt. His friends weren’t acting like themselves - or he wasn’t seeing them the same - and with everyone on their own hunches with a snake in their midst it was only a matter of time before someone he knew personally but the dust.

So Stiles works alone when he can; reads, runs, trains, doesn’t eat, doesn’t sleep, throws some more duct tape under the hood of his Jeep and for what?

Yako only watches. Watches the dysfunction, the fighting amongst themselves, the violence spreading around them. And as penance for not listening sooner, he watches when Donovan creeps up behind his host.

Then he disappears, lurks behind the scenes as Stiles swings the wrench, shouts and takes off running into the school.

Was nothing locked anymore? He thinks to himself. Stiles doesn’t hear him anymore- not until he’s hiding behind library shelves as if they as a pair weren’t the biggest threat in Beacon Hills.

“ _He’s coming for you, Stiles._..” the demon whispers behind his ear. “ _Are you ready to defend yourself_?”

Stiles doesn’t flinch at the voice he knows.

“ _I could win_.”

They should both be well aware, but that isn’t what the human wants.

“ _I can eat him whole, Stiles_!”

Why not? Why does it matter so much now?

“ _Do it yourself or let me go_!”

  
  


It’s Stiles who wins anyway.

He thinks for a moment that maybe it was Yako’s hand pulling the pin, downright wishing this was the case. He knows that that would feel like.

The body vanishing however, that feels like Yako. At that point, the whole thing feels like one of the fox’s nightmares. An illusion- delusion? He was breaking. He was sleeping.

It wasn’t real.

There’s no body, no blood, no metal melting out the mouth. The deputy he watched run in and walk out confirmed it; a prank call, he said.

When did he get in the car the first time? They left the library, watched the sirens coming, but they’re inside again now. Did he get here, or was it Yako? Who was it now? He hates sharing a body.

“ _You’re safe, aren’t you_?”

His hands are bloody. They have to leave this time.

“Am I?”

[...]

**Donovan not dead. Walked out**

**Donovan Dead**

**Someone took the body**

“ _Scott’s calling_.”

[...]

There's a slip up when going back to Eichen. Another visit to Stiles' personal hell. Another chance to be harassed in those halls, trapped in a cell, brought back to the frame of mind when he had been locked up and poked with needles day in and day out. Brief as his time was there originally, there was no forgetting the way it felt.

He wants to be there to stay involved, avoid more suspicion, get all of the information he could. Emotionally, however, he can't handle it after everything else. Yako had no such reservations, and so they proceed with a promise not to make things worse. It would be easy to lie; Stiles was going to sleep with his headmate in control this time. How mad could he be after the fact?

Plenty.

But he's not. He has no reason to be. The next time Stiles comes to, fully grounded in his skin, it's already daylight coming in through his bedroom window.

Then there's more holes in the ground where Chimeras should be sprouting. Stiles is meeting with his dad like it's business, lurking around his friends, they read books designed to unearth repressed memories as if he had anything left hidden after Yako did his prying. They sneak into operating rooms, get attacked left and right, he's juggling lies and combating the paranoia of it all while the surroundings eyes seem to get closer and closer despite friends being more distant than ever.

It was chaos without Yako's creation.

Until the whole Jeep is flipped with Stiles inside.

Until he's seeing things Yako denies creating.

Until he's cornered by blackmail.

Until Scott finds out what can't possibly be everything like he claims, but is still enough for the conversation- the confrontation they had been expecting all along. Not Scott of course. Scott's been paying the least attention to his best friend out of the entire group. He can't say one way or another _how_ Stiles was, let alone _what_.

" _You knew this would happen_." He did. He knew it the moment he saw the body. He knew it even before then that something like this was bound to happen. Scott was going to turn, then the rest would go too. He remembers what was discussed before senior year began- " _you want to miss them_." and he knew that he would, at least for a little while. Things were going to end one way or another.

[...]

He always pictured time would be the most inevitable divider. After the possession, he assumed it would be Yako. No matter the new challenges cropped up, it always came down to the big bad secret under his skin. It had to be this.

But in reality it was Stiles' hands, not Yako's. It wasn't the fox Scott learned not to trust, it was the human.

The defenseless, as he used to be.

Now he was a threat, still trying to go on the way he used to. He didn't have to anymore. It wasn't even expected. No one was paying attention, not even after Malia tried to claim outright that she did. If that were true it would show. She'd have too much to not act. Instead the human was under all radars besides Theo Raeken's.

" _What could it be now_?" Nothing good, Stiles thinks. They're in an impound lot when the suspected chimera pulls up again. " _Cute_." Yako says, and Stiles almost agrees when the taunting begins. If his blood wasn't boiling, he might be smug when Theo begins confirming his suspicions. Except Theo is the one who brought all of this on- not only Stiles' current circumstance but the new invasion of the Dread Doctors as a whole. He did everything, and he was mocking Stiles for how it was destroying everything. Yako can laugh all he wants, he can be the _smug_ for them both. Stiles will be the stern one. The clenched fist, the racing heart, twitching eyes and gritted teeth.

" _Careful now_ ," he hears distantly when his eyes catch the student ID in Theo's hand. The card that his father should still have. " _Stiles_..."

Something changes on the other's face. "I came for the werecoyote, the one whose first instinct is to kill. I came for the Banshee, the girl surrounded by death. I came for the dark kitsune, the beta with anger issues. I came for _void Stiles_."

Something wet is on his hands.

"I can hear your heartbeat rising,"

His eyes were stinging, blinking rapidly.

"The Nogistune is gone but you still have more blood on your hands than anyone."

The Nogitsune is gone, is it? He just wants the aftermath? The rage? Doesn't he know the difference, laughing when Stiles takes a swing. Taunting when giving him the ultimatum that he's already arranged. A test.

 _A test_?

Stiles plants a knee on the chimera's stomach, gripping the front of his shirt from above. "What makes you think it's a question?" Only when he speaks does the full scope reach Stiles' own observation.

His hands were wet with his own blood; fingernails growing into the Nogitsune's metallic claws and piercing his skin, now tearing into Theo's shirt. His voice dropped a notch as he growls, and though he can't imagine what color his eyes could be as such a beast, it was safe to assume they were changing as well. "After what you've done," he continues on. "what makes you think that I give a rat's ass about Scott _fucking_ McCall? That you can come into _my town_ and make _demands_ over _me_?!"

It doesn't matter what the chimera claims, the front he covers his face with, they can _smell_ the change within him. If he wasn't scared yet, he would be very soon.

"The Nogitsune isn't gone, Raeken." He says with a bitter smile pulling at his lips. " _In fact he never left_! You think I would tell anyone what I had in me? _You don't even know_."

[...]

Was it both of them at the end? He didn't need Yako whispering in his ear or looming over his shoulder, never mind taking over. This was them. White eyes and a mouth full of fangs, shining as he digs his claws into the chimera's throat.

It was him. _Them_. Not the demon possessing an innocent boy. Not like before, if it ever was quite like that.

He got the sheriff's location before taking Theo's life. There was time to save him, yes, but he was still dying. Not killing Scott when the wolf finally arrived at the hospital too was a challenge. Not killing him every step of the way in fact, if not for his dad sitting unconscious in the hospital. After that, it was all up to circumstance.


End file.
